MELBOURNE.- Applications are now open for the Frank Van Straten Fellowship, a yearly fellowship that offers arts enthusiasts access to Australia’s largest specialist collection, the Australian Performing Arts Collection.

Dedicated to the collection and preservation of the nation’s performing arts heritage, the Australian Performing Arts Collection now holds over 850,000 objects related to circus, dance, music, opera and theatre. Returning for its seventh year, the fellowship will provide the successful recipient $15,000 to research and develop a project on a topic of their choosing.

The aim of the Frank Van Straten Fellowship is to tell stories of performance and performers through the costumes, designs, photographs and objects that make up the Australian Performing Arts Collection. The Frank Van Straten Fellowship is made possible by the generous contribution of The Van Straten and Turley Foundation.

The Fellowship honours the memory of the late Frank Van Straten AM who played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Australian Performing Arts Collection in the late 1970s and was the founding director and first archivist of what was then the Performing Arts Museum in the 1980s. He was a celebrated performing arts historian, published author, consultant, radio presenter, and throughout his career, graciously served on many boards, committees and panels across the arts and cultural sector.

"We are thrilled to open applications for the seventh year of this prestigious Fellowship, which continues to honour Frank Van Straten’s incredible legacy by breathing new life into our Collection," said Sandra Bruce, Director Collections and Exhibitions, Arts Centre Melbourne.

"The Australian Performing Arts Collection is a treasure trove of our nation’s cultural identity, and this fellowship ensures the Collection doesn’t just preserve the past, but also inspires future artists by giving them the resources to uncover and share stories that might otherwise remain untold," Bruce continued.

Previous recipients of the Frank Van Straten Fellowship have highlighted fascinating stories from Australia’s rich performing arts history. Current recipients Sarah Kriegler and Jacob Williams are uncovering the hidden stories of the puppets and puppetry objects from the Collection with plans to develop a new puppetry work for family audiences called THINGS HAVE A LIFE OF THEIR OWN.

Past recipients include opera and cabaret performer Ali McGregor (2024) with Sweet Nell: The Story of Australia's Rose, an investigation into the life and career of 1880s Australian actress Nellie Stewart, Dr Amaara Raheem (2023) with C.O.R.R.U.P.T.E.D II, Angela Bailey (2022) with The GLAD Project, Cathy Pryor (2021) with Rare Flowers and Golden Butterflies: Stories of women and magic from the Australian Performing Arts Collection and inaugural Fellow Dr Kate Rice (2020) with Performing the Past.

Australia’s largest performing arts venue, Arts Centre Melbourne has been the proud custodian of the Australian Performing Arts Collections for over five decades. Notable objects in the Collection include elaborate costumes and iconic rare objects from stars of the Australian stage including Kylie Minogue, Dame Nellie Melba, ACDC, Nick Cave, Barry Humphries, Dame Joan Sutherland, Hugh Jackman, Peter Allen, Chrissy Amphlett and Dame Olivia Newton-John as well as famed performing arts institutions including The Australian Ballet, Circus Oz, Melbourne Theatre Company and Opera Australia.

With such a vast collection, there are thousands of stories waiting to be told and inspire whole new generations of performers and audiences. Alongside the Frank Van Straten Fellowship, these stories are brought to life at Arts Centre Melbourne’s newest venue the Australian Museum of Performing Arts (AMPA), currently showing blockbuster exhibition DIVA. Behind-the-scenes tours of the Australian Performing Arts Collection are also now available on weekends at Hamer Hall.

Applications for the 2026 Fellowship are now open and will close on 13 March 2026.